Tips for 5K - How hard to stop for characters?

[vinotinto]

Hi all,

I wanted to get your wisdom and tips for running a 5K at WDW to be able to stop and take pics with characters, etc. This is what I'm thinking. In a longer race, you can stop for pics and "make up time" by running faster, but with only 3 miles, we could easily spend the 45 minutes waiting for pics. What is your experience with this? Planning to run the Rival Run 5 K as a family.

Also, what can we expect regarding corrals?

Any experiences and tips greatly appreciated!

 

[SarahDisney]

The good thing about the 5k is that historically they have not enforced the time limit (although they can start doing it any time), so there is some cushion. I've finished my two runDisney 5ks in 1:10 and 1:15. I think a lot of people stop for more characters in the 5k specifically because they dont enforce the time limit... which makes the lines longer, but also shows that it can be done.

 

[HomeiswhereMickeyis]

My DH and I ran the dark side 5k this year. We started in the back of corral D and stopped for every character. Our finish time was 1:33. We ran a 13/14 pace in between stops. We were nowhere near being the last to finish.
Something we did that I would recommend was once we saw a line I would get in it and DH would run to the front of the line to see who it was and let me know so we could decide if we wanted to stay in line. It saved a little bit of time by deciding in line if we wanted to do that stop rather than both going to see and deciding from there.
Hope this helps!

 

[vinotinto]

This is great to hear! I was thinking there was no way could we stop for characters and finish in 48 minutes.

@HomeiswhereMickeyis - How many character ops were there at the Dark Side 5K this year?

 

[ktmo]

This thread is very helpful. We are also hoping to do the Rival Run 5k in 2019. We are not the fastest runners and will want to stop for pictures.

Are their characters at the end of the race for photo ops?

 

[HomeiswhereMickeyis]

@vinotinto Looking at my pictures there was the Emperor's chair, R2D2, Stormtroopers in front of spaceship earth, Ezra and Sabine, and I believe Chewbacca (which looking back at pictures I now remember he was the only stop we didn't do because we planned to get medal pictures with him afterwards at launch bay). Just before we left Epcot and got to the finish line there was a lot of the 501st cosplayers (kind of like unofficial character stops) and we stopped for old Ben and a jawa. There were a lot more cosplayers but those lines moved really slow and we were ready to be done and get breakfast at that point.

 

[HomeiswhereMickeyis]

This thread is very helpful. We are also hoping to do the Rival Run 5k in 2019. We are not the fastest runners and will want to stop for pictures.

Are their characters at the end of the race for photo ops?

Yes! Before and after there were Boba Fett, Darth Vader, Kylo Ren, Captain Phasma, and BB8. ( I think that was all of them)

 

[Sleepless Knight]

This thread is very helpful. We are also hoping to do the Rival Run 5k in 2019. We are not the fastest runners and will want to stop for pictures.

Are their characters at the end of the race for photo ops?

Yes, like @HomeiswhereMickeyis said 2017 and 2018 Dark Side races had Boba Fett, Darth Vader, Kylo Ren, Captain Phasma, BB-8, and Jabba the Hutt. A couple of things to keep in mind. The characters before the race starts will also be available to meet after the race and may have somewhat shorter lines after the race. Any character at the start/finish lines will not be available to meet during the race itself unless a cosplayer is out there. And the cosplayers do not have the backdrops that Disney uses for its CM portrayed characters if that sort of thing is important to you.

 

[ktmo]

Yes! Before and after there were Boba Fett, Darth Vader, Kylo Ren, Captain Phasma, and BB8. ( I think that was all of them)

Yes, like @HomeiswhereMickeyis said 2017 and 2018 Dark Side races had Boba Fett, Darth Vader, Kylo Ren, Captain Phasma, BB-8, and Jabba the Hutt. A couple of things to keep in mind. The characters before the race starts will also be available to meet after the race and may have somewhat shorter lines after the race. Any character at the start/finish lines will not be available to meet during the race itself unless a cosplayer is out there. And the cosplayers do not have the backdrops that Disney uses for its CM portrayed characters if that sort of thing is important to you.

Thanks so much. This is very helpful. I am starting to look forward to our first runDisney 5k. Hopefully, I can get us registered.

 

[Sleepless Knight]

Thanks so much. This is very helpful. I am starting to look forward to our first runDisney 5k. Hopefully, I can get us registered.

I finished the 2018 Dark Side 5K in just over 90 minutes. When I wasn't standing in line for photos, I was doing a brisk walk. I chose to take the 5K very slowly because I was also running the 10K and Half at Dark Side.

I'm a slow runner so I have plenty of experience with how the sweep works at a runDisney event. In short, they will tell you if you are at any risk of being swept. They are not going to sneak up on you and tell you too bad, here's the bus to take you to the finish line. Instead, they will tell you where you need to be and you need to be keeping up with to stay ahead of the sweep point.

In the 2017 Dark Side 10K, I was in line for the Emperor's throne. They told us that the hard sweep was 5 minutes away and that when the balloon ladies came by we could either get out of line and stay with them or stay in line and be swept. I was 3rd in line when this happened and I knew that I would be able to stay with the balloon ladies even in a worse case scenario, so I stayed in line, got my photo and continued on. A few minutes later, I did indeed see the sweep occur. The buses pulled up and formed a V and the people behind that point had to get on the bus.

This year during the Dark Side Half, I was in line for Darth Vader outside Animal Kingdom. They told us that we were 8 minutes ahead of the balloon ladies and that this was probably a 6 minute line. I stayed in it. I never saw the balloon ladies. Shortly before mile 13, I decided to get in line for the Empire group shot featuring Vader, Palpatine, and a host of others. I don't know how long the line took. 15-20 minutes or more would not surprise me.

Please do not be terrified of the sweep point. Respect it, yes! Train to be ahead of it, absolutely. But do not run or walk your race in fear. If you are in danger, they will tell you and give you an opportunity to get ahead of or stay with the balloon ladies. You may have to skip some photo stops if the line is too long during the race. But if you have trained for this, you should be okay.

 

[vinotinto]

@Sleepless Knight - thank you for the detailed info!

 

[Sleepless Knight]

@Sleepless Knight - thank you for the detailed info!

You're welcome. Having been close enough to the sweep point that I know how it works makes it a bit liberating during a race because I no longer worry needlessly about being swept. If I'm at risk of being swept, I will know. And I also know what it takes to stay on target.

I hear people all around me stressing about the balloon ladies and I try to reassure them that if they have not been warned about the balloon ladies, then they are currently safe from being swept.

 

[doombuggy]

I finished the 2018 Dark Side 5K in just over 90 minutes. When I wasn't standing in line for photos, I was doing a brisk walk. I chose to take the 5K very slowly because I was also running the 10K and Half at Dark Side.

I'm a slow runner so I have plenty of experience with how the sweep works at a runDisney event. In short, they will tell you if you are at any risk of being swept. They are not going to sneak up on you and tell you too bad, here's the bus to take you to the finish line. Instead, they will tell you where you need to be and you need to be keeping up with to stay ahead of the sweep point.

In the 2017 Dark Side 10K, I was in line for the Emperor's throne. They told us that the hard sweep was 5 minutes away and that when the balloon ladies came by we could either get out of line and stay with them or stay in line and be swept. I was 3rd in line when this happened and I knew that I would be able to stay with the balloon ladies even in a worse case scenario, so I stayed in line, got my photo and continued on. A few minutes later, I did indeed see the sweep occur. The buses pulled up and formed a V and the people behind that point had to get on the bus.

This year during the Dark Side Half, I was in line for Darth Vader outside Animal Kingdom. They told us that we were 8 minutes ahead of the balloon ladies and that this was probably a 6 minute line. I stayed in it. I never saw the balloon ladies. Shortly before mile 13, I decided to get in line for the Empire group shot featuring Vader, Palpatine, and a host of others. I don't know how long the line took. 15-20 minutes or more would not surprise me.

Please do not be terrified of the sweep point. Respect it, yes! Train to be ahead of it, absolutely. But do not run or walk your race in fear. If you are in danger, they will tell you and give you an opportunity to get ahead of or stay with the balloon ladies. You may have to skip some photo stops if the line is too long during the race. But if you have trained for this, you should be okay.

Great post! I have done 5 10ks (2 in 2016, 2 in 2017 and 1 this year) and I have to say I think in the 2016 SWDS 10k I really was terrified of being swept. I was about 75 feet or so behind the balloon ladies, but it was towards the end of the course (darn bathroom break! there was a line for that!) When I did the SWDS 10k this year, I was in corral C instead of the last one. I mostly walk the races but do some running, mostly to get around people. I have also lost 57 LBs on Weight Watchers, so it is a little easier to run. I had done only 1 quick photo with Princess Sofia in the 2016 princess 10k (my first) but I was scared to stop in any of the other races I did - including the SWLS I did in Disneyland last year. So with being in corral C, I decided to grab some photos! I got Darth Maul, Rebels and the figment topiary. Your post gives me more confidence for next year. Signed up for the Princess 10k today, but want to stick to my time with only 1 ladies room stop to see if I can better my time. Even with the stops this year, which took about 20 minutes of time, I still did better than my net time of the 2017 SWDS race.

 

[Spikester]

I did the dark side 10K and mostly walked it. I was at the front of the last corral (F?) the bike people kept giving us updates on the balloon ladies, but they didn't actually pass me until we were through HS and heading to the boardwalk. They didn't sweep at that point.
Anyway, I didn't stop for pictures. I probably will for other races.

 

[Kazrak]

Catching up on this now - thank you. My wife and younger son are doing the SW5k next year, and wife isn't sure how well her knees will handle running. It sounds like she can walk it with nothing to worry about. (Son has run a 5k in about an hour; I wasn't seriously worried about him, especially with 8 months of training to go.)

And maybe I'll have time to get some photos this time. (I've done 4 races and never stopped for photos because I spent the whole race calculating how far ahead of the sweepers I was.)

 

[Sleepless Knight]

Catching up on this now - thank you. My wife and younger son are doing the SW5k next year, and wife isn't sure how well her knees will handle running. It sounds like she can walk it with nothing to worry about. (Son has run a 5k in about an hour; I wasn't seriously worried about him, especially with 8 months of training to go.)

And maybe I'll have time to get some photos this time. (I've done 4 races and never stopped for photos because I spent the whole race calculating how far ahead of the sweepers I was.)

Also remember that since you're running Dark Side, there are characters before the race starts as well. Those same characters will also be at the finish line. Lines will be long before the race and also long afterwards, but probably not as long.

 

[Kazrak]

Also remember that since you're running Dark Side, there are characters before the race starts as well. Those same characters will also be at the finish line. Lines will be long before the race and also long afterwards, but probably not as long.

Yeah, I did Dark Side last year. I was too exhausted afterwards, especially with how warm it was.